Oakland Athletics: A’s sign RHP Yusmeiro Petit to two-year deal
Wednesday evening the Oakland Athletics agreed to sign former San Francisco Giants, and most recently Los Angeles Angels, reliever Yusmeiro Petit.
It’s no secret that the Oakland Athletics bullpen was a mess last season. With their young starting rotation unable to go deep into games the A’s bullpen was utterly fatigued by mid-season.
The Oakland bullpen posted a 4.57 ERA on the year, pitching the seventh-most innings in the American League with 553.1.
They then traded left-hander Sean Doolittle and right-hander Ryan Madson to the Washington Nationals mid-season, and the bullpen seemed to have a revolving door of pitchers.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
So it makes sense that the A’s went into the off-season seeking veteran relievers and perhaps even a veteran starter.
The Athletics have found that veteran reliever in Yusmeiro Petit, and it appears like they want to keep him around.
He signed a two-year, $10 million deal with a team option for a third year for $5 million in 2020, pending a physical.
A 10-year veteran in the majors, Petit has proven to be reliable and durable. Plus, the 33-year-old is coming off a career year with the Angels.
He posted a 2.76 ERA over 91.1 innings to go along with a 0.95 WHIP. He struck out 101 batters averaging 10 K’s per nine innings to just 1.8 walks. His career ERA is 4.31.
The Oakland Athletics are likely hoping that last season will lead Petit into the best years of his career and he’ll be a substantial veteran presence in what is likely to be an overall, young bullpen.
They also added right-handed 26-year-old Emilio Pagan to their bullpen in the trade that sent slugger Ryon Healy to the Seattle Mariners. In, what was his rookie season, Pagan played well for the Seattle Mariners posting a 3.22 ERA with a 0.934 WHIP and, like Petit averaged 10 K’s per nine innings.
Next: Red Sox need to trade for Jose Abreu
It doesn’t mean the A’s are done fixing their bullpen but signing Petit and trading for Pagan is a pretty good start.